On This Day in HISTORY

534 BC – Thespis * of Icaria is the first recorded actor to portray a character onstage (see 2014 entry)

Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus in Athens, photo by xoxallie

1174 – Saladin peacefully enters Damascus, at the request of its governor, and adds it to his domain

1202 – The Fibonacci sequence, a series of numbers where a number is the sum of the two numbers before it, is named after Italian mathematician Fibonacci (Leonardo of Pisa). His 1202 book Liber Abaci introduces the sequence to Western European mathematics, but the sequence was known earlier as Virahanka numbers in Indian mathematics. November 23 is celebrated as Fibonacci Day * because the date written in the mm/dd format (11/23), forms a Fibonacci sequence: 1,1,2,3

1910 – Johan Alfred Ander becomes the last person to be executed in Sweden

1914 – Final withdrawal of U.S. forces from Veracruz Mexico, occupied 7 months earlier after the Tampico Affair causes a diplomatic rift between the two countries

1915 – Anne Burns born, British aeronautical engineer and glider pilot; during WWI, worked for Ministry of Supply, in the Structures and Mechanical Department at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, concentrating on flutter problems and load stress measurements, but also developing windscreen wipers for bombers, and the double windscreen enclosing a supply of warm air to improve visibility. She also made test flights on Hawker Typhoons and Gloster Meteors. In the 1950s, she became a Principal Scientific Officer, and worked on the crashes of early de Havilland Comet jet airlines in 1954; awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air in 1955, and the Royal Aeronautical Society R.P. Alston Medal in 1958

1916 – P.K. Page born, Canadian poet, author, and playwright; her poem “Planet Earth” was read in 2001 as part of the UN celebration of the International Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations

1923 – Gloria Whelan born, American poet, short story writer, and novelist known primarily for children’s and young adult fiction; 2000 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for Homeless Bird

1924 – Edwin Hubble’s discovery that the Andromeda nebula is actually another island universe far outside our own is first published in the New York Times

1924 – “Jo Jo” D’Angelo born, South Bend Blue Sox left-fielder; one of the 60 original players of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

1925 – Elaine Horseman born, English children’s book author in the fantasy genre, for her Hubble series, featuring the five Hubble children

1928 – Jerry Bock born, American musical theatre composer; best known for Tony-Award-winner Fiddler on the Roof, created with partner Sheldon Harnick

1934 – An Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission in the Ogaden discovers an Italian garrison at Walwal, well within Ethiopian territory, leading to the Abyssinia Crisis

1936 – LIFE magazine is reborn as a successful photo magazine

The Fort Peck Dam, LIFE first cover

1943 – WWII: Battle of Tarawa ends with U.S. Forces in control of the Tarawa Atoll during the Gilbert-Marshall Islands campaign in the Pacific

1945 – U.S. wartime rationing of most foods ends

1948 – Dr. Frank G. Back patents the “Zoomar” lens

1946 – Mound Metalcraft changes its name to Tonka Toys Inc.

1955 – Mary Loretta Landrieu born, American politician; U.S. Democratic Senator from Louisiana (1997-2015); Chair of the Senate Small Business Committee (2009-2014); State Treasurer of Louisiana (1987-1996); currently, a senior policy adviser for a Washington DC law firm

1963 – The BBC broadcasts An Unearthly Child, first episode of the science-fiction television serial of the same name, and the first episode of Doctor Who, now the world’s longest-running science fiction drama

1963 – Gwynne Shotwell born, American businesswoman and mechanical engineer with an additional degree in applied mathematics; President and CEO of SpaceX, a U.S. space transportation company, which she joined in 2002; worked for Microcosm Inc (1998-2002) as director of the space systems division; did technical work on military space research and development, and thermal analysis at Aerospace Corporation (1988 -1998)

1965 – Jennifer Michael Hecht born, American historian, author, and poet; The End of the Soul: Scientific Modernity, Atheism, and Anthropology in France, 1876-1936

1968 – Kirsty Young born, Scottish television and radio presenter, best known as one of the original newsreaders of 5 News on Channel 5 (1997-2007), and as the presenter of the BBC series, Crimewatch (2008-2015)

1970 – United American Indians of New England organize a National Day of Mourning for Native Americans, held annually on Thanksgiving

1970 – George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” is released in the U.S.

1971 – The People’s Republic of China first seated on UN Security Council

1972 –The musical “Pippin” opens at the Imperial Theater on Broadway

1976 – Apneist Jacques Mayol is the first man to reach the depth of 100 meters (330 feet) undersea without breathing equipment

1979 – In Dublin, Ireland, Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life imprisonment for the assassination of Earl Mountbatten

1981 – Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the CIA authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua

1986 – In Manila, Philippine president Corazon Aquino dismisses Defense Minister Enrile after discovering officers loyal to him plan a coup. All 25 members of her cabinet tender their resignations, and she will decide which ones to accept in the following week

1993 – Rachel Whiteread wins both the £20,000 Turner Prize for Best British Modern Artist and the £40,000 K Foundation art award for the Worst Artist of the Year. She originally refused the K Foundation prize, but when told that the money would otherwise be burnt, she relented, and accepted the prize, then donated some of the prize money to a housing charity, and used the rest to set up grants for needy artists

One Hundred Spaces, by Rachel Whiteread

1998 – The tobacco industry signs the biggest U.S. civil settlement, a $206-billion deal to resolve remaining state claims for treating sick smokers

2005 – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf elected as President of Liberia, the first black woman to be elected as a head of state

2007 – Legislation is introduced by California Congressman Joe Baca to designate the Friday after Thanksgiving as Native American Heritage Day *, to pay tribute to Native Americans for their many contributions to the U.S. After some modifications, the bill passed, and President Bush signed it into law in 2008. It is somewhat controversial among some Native Americans, because it coincides with ‘Black Friday’ –“a day of greed and aggressive capitalism”

2011 – Arab Spring: After 11 months of protests in Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh signs a transfer of power to the vice president, in exchange for legal immunity

2014 – The first International Thespian Day * (see entry for 534 BC)

2015 – Blue Origin’s New Shepard space vehicle is the first rocket to fly to space and then return to Earth in a controlled, vertical landing

2017 – Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for allegations of genocide and war crimes, asks Russian President Vladimir Putin for increased military ties and protection against the U.S. during his first visit to Russia as President. Putin agrees to increase their countries’ economic ties. Omar al-Bashir came to power by leading a military coup which overthrew the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi in 1989. In 2009, he became the first sitting president to be indicted by the ICC, accused of directing a campaign of mass killing, rape and pillage against civilians in Darfur

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About wordcloud9

Nona Blyth Cloud has lived and worked in the Los Angeles area for the past 45 years, spending much of that time commuting on the 405 Freeway. After Hollywood failed to appreciate her genius for acting and directing, she began a second career managing non-profits, from which she has retired.
Nona has now resumed writing whatever comes into her head, instead of reports and pleas for funding. She lives in a small house overrun by books with her wonderful husband and a bewildered Border Collie.